Frank Moe
Following a lengthy county board meeting where commissioners spent five hours poring over the budget making decisions of what to cut—or to add— to the 2017 levy, District 1 Commissioner Frank Moe announced that he was resigning for several reasons, the primary one because of his health.
The meeting was held Tuesday, December 20.
Moe’s last motion as a county board member called for keeping the commissioners’ salary and mileage rates the same as 2016, with an increase in their health premium by 20 percent. The board passed the motion 5-0.
Saying his decision was regrettable, Moe added, “I will do my best to fulfill my responsibilities of this office until a replacement can be found.”
Commissioner Garry Gamble, in his last meeting with the board, motioned to accept Moe’s resignation, and he noted Frank’s passion for serving his district and the county.
Board chair Heidi Doo- Kirk couldn’t hold back tears as she thanked Moe for his service. She asked fellow commissioners to help fill Frank’s duties until a replacement can be elected.
Moe is a former two-term member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He served Beltrami, Cass, Itasca counties from 2005-2008 in the House as the District 4A Representative. He and his wife Sherri moved from Bemidji to Cook County in 2009, following their desire to raise and race sled dogs. In 2014 Frank published a book called Sled Dogs to Saint Paul. In those pages he talked about his love of the northland, his dogs, his wife, and the arduous 362- mile journey he made to St. Paul by sled dogs in 2012 to heighten the public’s awareness of the proposed sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area watershed. During that eight-day trip, Frank picked up petitions to carry to the capitol to give to the governor.
A big believer in representing the underemployed, the elderly, the disenfranchised, the people living on fixed incomes, Moe advocated and argued for keeping the levy at an increase of no more than 4 percent in any year. The last two years the commissioners have called for an 8.5 levy increase and this year have finally decided on an 11.2 percent levy increase for 2017.
Cook County Auditor/ Treasurer Braidy Powers said commissioners could declare Moe’s vacancy and call for a special election at their January 3, 2017, board meeting. Following that meeting the vacancy must be posted in the newspaper for two weeks; candidates will then file and run during a 70-day period. If everything is done as expediently as possible, Powers said the election could take place as soon as April 11.
Moe tied in his run for the District 1 commissioner seat with Kristin DeArruda-Wharton, and he won the seat on a coin flip.
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